posted on 14 Aug 2023

Ukridge by P.G. Wodehouse

The world of P.G. Wodehouse is one eagerly entered into by some readers but which remains resolutely locked and barred to others who simply can’t tune into the author’s creations. His extensive roster of novels and short stories frequently involve characters who weave in and out of the various books and move in and out of the spotlight. 

One such character is Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, a man who seems to attract the fierce loyalty of his friends despite the fact that he mercilessly exploits them and is always on the search for plots and plans that will aggrandise and enrich him. In this 1924 collection of short stories featuring Ukridge, we also meet Reggie (Corky) Corcoran – would be author and another regular member of the Wodehouse cast - who acts as our storyteller.

In this edition there are ten short stories in which Ukridge displays his least admirable qualities, constantly willing to fleece the ever-faithful narrator – and just about anyone he knows that he believes he can tap-up for a few quid.

More committed readers of Wodehouse than I am seem to argue quite vigorously over whether Ukridge is one of Wodehouse’s better characters or simply an unbearable upper-class parasite who would stop at nothing to get what he wants. I tend towards sympathy for the latter in all honesty.

Many of the stories begin with Ukridge hatching a money-making scheme that may or may not be strictly legal. We open with a plan to establish a dog training college based around a clutch of dogs stolen from his Aunt Julia and move on, in the second story to a plan to defraud a life insurance company by setting up one of his erstwhile friends to have a significant personal accident. Strip away the buffoonery and bluster and there are some rather unpleasant undertones in the motives of our Mr Ukridge.

For me the three short stories featuring Ukridge’s unlikely boxing protégé, Battling Billson are the most successful. Billson and his sweetheart turn out to be rather loveable and somewhat less gullible than might be expected – and they come out of their encounters with the manipulative Ukridge very well.

Wodehouse claimed that the character of Ukridge was based on a man called Craxton, an acquaintance of a schoolfriend but Robert Graves, the author and poet, believed it was based on his brother Perceval. Whatever the truth of it, Ukridge was clearly a favourite of Wodehouse’s and continued making appearances in his books until the 1960s.

This collection won’t change anyone’s mind about Wodehouse – if you love it, you’ll continue to be amused but if you don’t get it, this won’t make the appeal any clearer. These are not, in my view, anything like Wodehouse’s best work and if you’ve never read him before, this would not be a great place to start.

Copies of these stories have appeared in several paperback editions and copies can be picked up for well under £10.

 

Terry Potter

August 2023